Using GTD to manage reading books

[omerkhan]

The one thing that I just can't figure out how to manage effectively with GTD is by book reading list. My backlog just seems to get bigger and bigger (I'm addicted to buying books even when I know I've got a dozen or so still to read and I always have to have 3+ active books at any one time).

So I list all my books in my Project List. Great...now at least I know how much I have to read! Then I add an action to read a chapter. But I just seem to procastinate on these actions and they just linger in my action list. I don't have the same problem with other actions - I get through them like I'm supposed to.

What am I missing, why are these actions too difficult? Any one else have similar problems? Any tips on what other people do? Anyone have a good process? Has anyone incorporated Photoreading into this or other "speed reading" type techniques?

[Rainer Burmeister]

why are these actions too difficult?
Because they are no actions! Reading is not an action, i.e. productive physical action, but it's perception, comprehension, and storing information in your memory. Reading without active processing (taking notes, calculating, discussing, mind mapping, etc.) is either edification, entertainment, relaxation or a waste of time. Reading without active processing may lead to consequences or changes in your life, but it's hard to manage this kind of passive reading. You would have to schedule a certain time and discipline yourself to read when it's time to read. Or you would need an other person, e.g. a teacher or a friend, to test your progress on your reading project. And preparing and attending a test could be a project with actions that you can manage.

Ask yourself: "Why do I buy so many books? For education, for fun, for collecting?" "What is the successful outcome that I want to achieve by reading, i.e. working through, this certain book?"

Hope this helps.

Rainer

[MarkTAW]

There is no consequence if you don't read, so you don't read. GTD can't motivate you to do something you don't want to do, just let you track it.

I read on the train while commuting, if you drive, try books on tape/CD/MP3.

[Nan]

Why are you looking at reading as a chore? Why are you trying to be so organized about it?

I have over 8 bookshelves of books. Two of those bookshelves I have not read yet. I expect that as I move books off those shelves because I have read them, more will take their place. I tend to read 3-5 books a time, and that does not include textbooks for school. I read what catches my fancy when I am looking for a book. I will read them all eventually. If a book is cheap or out of print at a used book store, I won't pass it up just because I have so many shelves full already. Having a huge pile of unread books is comforting, because I know that I will always have something to read waiting for me!

Reading is a hobby and a passion of mine. I read to improve myself sometimes (e.g. read GTD!) but mostly because I love to read!

If you are reading because you like to read, just lighten up about it.

If you are reading to improve yourself, and you are bored by the reading, maybe you need to rethink why you are reading. Are you reading because you feel you should be improving yourself? Are you reading because there is information in the material that you want to know? Maybe you need to keep that end goal in mind- not, "I am reading because I feel I should," but, "I am reading book XYZ because it has information about [insert topic] that I want to know." Maybe you need to motivate yourself with some sort of reward system. Maybe you need to decide that you don't need to read everything you feel that you should read (re-negotiate the agreement).

For some of my other hobbies, I am trying to organize what materials and supplies I have, so that I am not tempted to buy more when I have so much to do at home. Maybe could that be the purpose of your list of unread books?

Oh- one more thing: I keep a list of stuff to do in my free time. When I come home from work, I can look at it and try to decide what hobby I will indulge in- reading, knitting, playing with the cats, etc.

[Gameboy70]

The one thing that I just can't figure out how to manage effectively with GTD is by book reading list. My backlog just seems to get bigger and bigger (I'm addicted to buying books even when I know I've got a dozen or so still to read and I always have to have 3+ active books at any one time).

1. Write down every book you're currently in the middle of reading -- not every book you own or plan to read; just the ones that currently have your attention.

2. Decide which one would be best to finish first.

3. Make the page you're currently reading in that book your next action (e.g. "Read GTD pg. 118"), not arbitrary quotas like "Read Chapter 12."

This exercise takes two minutes, but it cuts through the haze like magic. Once you look at an objectified list of 7 books, one will likely stand out as a priority. In most cases one book will be such the obvious choice that you'll wonder why you didn't realize it before you made the list. But if you simply think in the abstract about "all the books" you have to read, you'll go numb to them.

Avoid putting future reading committments on your project list unless they're active projects for the current week. Put the one book you've committed to on the project list, the other few books that have your immediate attention on the someday/maybe list, and all the other books on a Books to Read list.

Reading faster won't help if you keep flitting back and forth between books. The key to more efficient reading is to funnel it though in one direction, just like other inputs in GTD workflow.

[Busydave]

Reading is a mine-field of mixed messages.

We can read for pleasure, for the betterment of our mind, for life management, to feel educated, and to fit in with the expectations of parents/teachers/wise looking older brothers and sisters of best friends.

But while some of the people in our lives think that reading is the most wonderful thing you can do, others think it is an absolute waste of time, the opposite of action, a lazy man’s pastime, “typical” of a day dreamer.

Will reading produce more money in our lives? If not, we feel guilty about it in our highly commercialised world.

All I know is, I always feel better inside after a good read, but at the same time, a whole section of my inner committee tries to out-shout each other in telling me what a waste of time it was.

The act of buying fulfils deep psychological needs which I can’t remember but are well documented (in books, of course!) The phrase “a little retail therapy” is not a joke, it’s a serious reality - it helps me get a little back for all the time I put into the office during the week. I love buying books, both for the retail therapy, and for what I feel I am buying into: a new view of business/society/history/art/literature or whatever the topic is. Does this mean I have been won over by clever advertising? After all, there will be another “fresh view” of these subjects launched in a year or two, so what is so great about the current lot that makes me spend my hard earned cash and increase my stock pile of unread books?

I have no answers to any of these. Perhaps reading is a battle ground between the individual and the corporate world: at the moment the corporate world is winning – you get all the rewards for action and work, and none for bettering your mind (unless it is in the very narrow spectrum of things that will increase your chances of promotion, and lets face it, all you really need to read is the phrase “produce results”).

We are surrounded by proof that it is better to work than it is to sit down, (inactively), and read. Maybe reading is going through the phase that sculpture and painting went through centuries ago: they used to be the only ways to capture an image, so that once photography and cinema came along, they had to reinvent themselves as an art form, which is simply a hobby for the lay man.

And notice, it was when they became known as “art” that sculpture and painting began to spawn hundreds of books!

Dave

[arthur]

Good stuff. What seems to be a theme here in this topic is active reading or purposeful reading. I believe in this type of reading. I have a very long book list on my Palm T5. I use Bonsai and my list is called: @TO READ. Also, I have a list called @TO READ ARCHIVE. My @TO READ ARCHIVE is merely a list of the books I have read that were originally located in my @TO READ list.

I use Bonsai because I can number the books on my list or prioritize it. I can also move the titles easily with arrow keys and move it to the top, or bottom. I can also easily paste book titles from Amazon into Bonsai. It’s nice to have my list on my Palm because when I’m at the library I can quickly scan it. I have a @MOVIES TO SEE located on my Palm as well for the same reasons.

In order for a book to make it to my @TO READ list, I scrutinize to the best of my ability. I really question if I should put it on my list. It had better be good! This is where Amazon.com helps me out because I can read customer reviews including chapter excerpts from the books themselves. Although, let me be clear I use a trick here as well. When looking for books, because I have strong goals (mission) I know what kind of books I want on my list. Therefore, this mindset already narrows down the books I will put on my list. Like some of the posted comments from the Topic here, I am also a firm believer in “Applied Knowledge”. If it is not applicable to me, I will not read it! It is a strong rule with me. Therefore, lately I have been reading a lot of non-fiction material mainly because I like applicable material. I do enjoy a good fiction book when I have time. Fiction books are endless “ideas” to me and I don’t necessarily need more ideas in my head, I have enough.

I do review my @TO READ list frequently and have at times taken a book off my list. However, this if few-and-far between. This tells me the books that I do have on my @TO READ list are completely related to my strong interests. Furthermore this says to me, I did (and DO) have strong interests now, they have not changed.

The "incubation" or "sitting" list technique works very good. This is letting a title, or thing to sit on your list and checking it later to see if you are still interested in it (weekly OR longer/review). I have many times found, by later checking it, that I did not really want it on my list, and I took it off. This technique has strengthened my "desires" because you have to know what you want.

May sound corny (or not), but that’s my way.

arthur

P.S. usually when I read a book, (if I like it) I will stick to it and read it until it’s done. I also have read many books twice or more times. I find these are the "special" books. This may seem contradictory, but many times I have had to check out many books I thought were "worthless" only to find out they were great. I call this the Blitzkrieg method where you quickly scan as much as you can out of the large pile of books, then pick out the great ones. It's like surfing the Internet only to find a few good webpages, "special" ones only for your Favorites collection. I always keep a open mind for the little tipping points, and don't completely disregard everything.

If you don’t enjoy it, don’t do it. Simply stated.

[kewms]

This thread is funny.

Briefly stated, some people use GTD as a way to have more time for things they enjoy, like reading. Some people use GTD to manage things that they need to do but don't necessarily enjoy, like reading.

I'm not sure either camp has much helpful advice for the other.

Katherine

[omerkhan]

Thanks for all the interesting replies and great feedback.

I should add that I sit in both "camps". I have books that I've bought just because I "like to read them". I don't have problems with these books. I always keep one with me and whenever I have downtime or I'm on the train/tube I'll get the book out, read and simply ENJOY! :)

The issue has been more with non-fiction books. Now each one of these books has a clear purpose i.e. it's related to another project like "become a better manager" which in turn is linked to a top-level goal like "get promoted in 12 months". So purpose is clear with all these books.

It's becoming clearer that the issue has been more about trying to treat reading activities as "actions". The other point is that for these types of books I don't really need a "reading session" but rather a "study session".

So my big takeways so far are:

1. Get clear about why you're reading what you're reading.
2. Schedule time and treat it as study rather than reading time.
3. Get a clear purpose for each study session e.g. I will identify and understand the key mistakes that managers make by the end of the next session.

and if I'm just reading for fun....enjoy the experience! :)

[AMS]

Sounds like you've got it - I've found it helpful to schedule the same block of time every week for professional reading.

[ludlow]

Katherine has a very good point, which relates also to Nan's further up the thread - all of this has a lot to do with whether you view GTD as a way to manage your life, or a way to manage your chores so you have more time for your life.

Personally, I don't agree with the idea that in order to 'lighten up' about, for example, reading, you should refrain from trying to incorporate it into your GTD system. I'd hate to think of my system as only for the things that I have to do but don't want to do. Apart from anything else, the things that are in the system are the things that are more likely to really get done, and I want a large proportion of the things that really get done in my life to be things I really want to do!

My only other suggestion in terms of reading would be that, unless your book-buying habit is causing you financial difficulties, try to abandon the idea that because you've bought a book you need to read it soon. Going down that route, you can quickly TURN an exciting, fun read into a chore...

[kewms]

I should add that I sit in both "camps". I have books that I've bought just because I "like to read them". I don't have problems with these books. I always keep one with me and whenever I have downtime or I'm on the train/tube I'll get the book out, read and simply ENJOY! :)

The issue has been more with non-fiction books. Now each one of these books has a clear purpose i.e. it's related to another project like "become a better manager" which in turn is linked to a top-level goal like "get promoted in 12 months". So purpose is clear with all these books.


What if you put the books you read with a purpose into the stack of things you read on the train? Then every so often just take a "work" book with you instead of a "fun" book? That way the reading will get done because you're trapped with nothing better to do, but you're not taking time away from either time-critical work tasks or personal fun time.

Katherine

[arthur]

My only other suggestion in terms of reading would be that, unless your book-buying habit is causing you financial difficulties, try to abandon the idea that because you've bought a book you need to read it soon. Going down that route, you can quickly TURN an exciting, fun read into a chore...

I agree ludlow. I use my book list for two other important reasons.

1. Store my books that I cannot buy now.

2. Store books that I do not have the time to read now.

My books are not chores. They are fun/exciting/etc. If it's not fun, don't do it.

[Brent]

I tend to buy more books than I have time to read.

Whenever I hear or read about a book I'd like to read, I immediately put it on my Someday/Maybe list, and then forget about it until my next weekly review. This is important.

I've found that, if I buy books as the mood strikes me, I buy more books than I can handle. However, if I have all my "to-read" books on my Someday/Maybe list, I can proactively sort through the books I still really want to buy, discard the ones for which my interest has cooled, and buy a smaller set of books that deeply interest me.

[coolhaus]

I stopped reading non fiction books years ago as a way of saving time and devoting more to 'professional' reading or reading books like GTD but I still never get to read them all. I guess the key is that they should be treated for enjoyment and read as such and just because they are non fiction doesn't mean you have to feel guilty about the list getting bigger. You never know when one day you will be glad to have them all. It could be worse you could suddenly decide or find out that you didn't have or need to read one or some of them and they were a waste of money - but at least you saved your time...

[ProfDD]

Hello, I'm Dennis.
[Chorus]Hi, Dennis.
I have a book-buying problem, which has become a book-storage problem. I try to take the book-buying problem one day at a time.

I have converted my book-buying problem into a book-borrowing problem -- and for that GTD is a help. When I get a book idea (I don't mean writinig one.), it goes into my Palm if I am not at my PC. If I am at my PC, I go to Amazon, look at ratings and prices, and possibly put it in my Amazon wish list. Then I go to the county-wide online library catalog and see if I can borrow it. I then put it on hold. The library system sends it to my local branch. They have an automated call system that calls me when it arrives at the local branch.

I then have a week to pick it up, which becomes a NA@Errands. When I take it home it becomes a NA@Online to renew the day before the due date. If I can't renew it becomes a NA@errand for the original due date. If I can renew, it becomes an NA@errand for the new due date. I look at my @errands list daily to see whether I need to decide whether to read the books on it or evaluate them for reading or buying. From books I own, I extract any I have that have a bearing on current activities or projects, evaluate them for reading and put the survivors on my .Read list. The same process works for videos.

The process allows me to indulge in my book and video habits without significant financial consequence. When I am busy, I often cancel holds that are about to lead to a book or video delivery and start a new hold so that it comes back to me when I do have the time. I maintain my Palm list with a notation as to whether or not the library system has the book so I am unlikely to try to buy it at a book store. I also update my wish list and rate my books on Amazon so that they are constantly updating their recommendations for me. Hitting that list is better than going to a bookstore sometimes.

The "chore" aspect of all this is just to get me to make decisions about books, based on extended at home browsing. Reading CAN be an important task and I then treat it as such, but is more likely a pleasure.

[southpointbooks]

"Has anyone incorporated Photoreading into this or other "speed reading" type techniques?"

Since I saw no one respond to this, I wanted to note. I have alot of reading material that have been wanting to read, most all are technical, business related on branding, advertising, cutting edge web design, etc., that would assist with projects I want to undertake. There is no way that I will ever have the time to read all the ebooks and books.

The main problem with the GTD approach that I've had is that I have multiple businesses and a wide range of interests. There is no time to do it all. Have to sort through and decide which projects, tasks take priority.

One of our businesses is as booksellers, so we have a huge supply of books available to sort through and read at our leisure. What will usually happen is we will glance through a book that caught our eye before after it has just been sold for any useful tidbits.

The more you let books lie around unread, the greater the chance that another book will become priority and at the top of your reading stack. My wife and I always keep each our own stack of books at our bed to read. If I let one sit for over 6 mths., I put it back on the bookshelf or our inventory if to be sold, knowing it wasn't important enough for me to read at the time. Many times a book will be read halfway, then get interested in another.
Course, if you have a personal library available like Louis L'mour did to store your books, then more power to you.

Have decided to take up speed reading to get through reading materials. Will see how it goes. The trick is finding the hidden gems in each one and getting around the fluff, which many publishers encourage to get a book up to a certain page size. Keep notes in a PIM of the essential gems garnered from books read for referencing later.

[ActionGirl]

The "chore" aspect of all this is just to get me to make decisions about books, based on extended at home browsing. Reading CAN be an important task and I then treat it as such, but is more likely a pleasure.
Hi Dennis, I too have book issues. :grin:

I love your suggestions. I go back and forth between noting down books I'd like to look at/read, and not even making the effort, thinking, humph, my library won't have it/I'll never read it anyway/it's too much hassle.

Once you have a system in place though, it sounds like it's well worth the trouble.
Thanks!

[Busydave]

I have a book-buying problem, which has become a book-storage problem. I try to take the book-buying problem one day at a time.

I have converted my book-buying problem into a book-borrowing problem --

Hi Dennis

How did you cope with the switch between possessing a book and just borrowing it? I would find it very very difficult to give away a book I haven’t yet read, even if it was readily available in the library, or cheap on Amazon. There is just something about holding that little world in your hands that goes way beyond cost or storage issues; darned if I can put it into words though!

Dave

[pageta]

How did you cope with the switch between possessing a book and just borrowing it? I would find it very very difficult to give away a book I haven’t yet read, even if it was readily available in the library, or cheap on Amazon. There is just something about holding that little world in your hands that goes way beyond cost or storage issues; darned if I can put it into words though!

I think that's a much bigger issue. I had (and still have) an extensive library before I met dh. He's always telling me I should just go to the library. Well, I rarely read a book in the time the library would allow me to have it. And furthermore, I like to keep many of the books I've read or are going to read.

I have managed to trim my stash a bit. For the longest time I couldn't figure out the "use it and love it" rule to my books (aka keep only what you use and love and get rid of the rest). I finally decided to keep the ones that make me feel good - either from the memories of enjoying reading them or the anticipation of the joys of reading them - and get rid of the rest. So the ones I've tried to get into but never could, the ones that are from times in my life that I'd rather forget, those types of books are all gone.

As for applying GTD for books - I keep a few books (and magazines) on my Read/Review list. Otherwise I forget that I have them or that I wanted to read them and that simply reminds me. It sounds very simple, but it works for me.

[ProfDD]

Hi Dennis

How did you cope with the switch between possessing a book and just borrowing it? I would find it very very difficult to give away a book I haven’t yet read, even if it was readily available in the library, or cheap on Amazon. There is just something about holding that little world in your hands that goes way beyond cost or storage issues; darned if I can put it into words though! Dave
Speaking ONLY for myself, the words I came to put on that something where 'obsession' and 'neurosis'. [See "The Psychology of Collecting", by Maisterberger.] Owning a book that I hadn't read was a substitute form of 'having knowledge'.

I now limit my purchases to indispensable reference works and books that I cannot get through the local public library. I do try to be nice to the Inter-Library Loan desk personnel to get more than what the Westchester Library System has. I also focus on the deductibility of the expense, if I am buying.

[ChuckR]

I'm a big user of audible.com, which gets me two books-on-tape (well not really, they are digital files which I play on my treo phone when driving). Now some won't call this "reading" but believe it or not I tend to remember my books on tape much better than the books I read the more traditional way, perhaps because I live with them for a longer period of time until they are done.

Anyway, I let audible do the prioritizing for me - I make sure that I always listen to them in the order that they were purchased (I tend to have a several month backlog). I also buy one fiction book (for the fun) and one nonfiction book (for the knowledge) each month. Indeed, I think I was first exposed to GTD through an audiobook download!

My non-audiobook reading is not so organized, and frankly I don't think it will ever be. Unlike GTD, I do have piles of unread books and magazines and I don't worry about integrating them into GTD.

[Busydave]

Owning a book that I hadn't read was a substitute form of 'having knowledge'.

Dennis

I felt something seismic inside when I read that post. Thanks – you may have rescued my spare room from total immersion in unread books.



I have managed to trim my stash a bit. For the longest time I couldn't figure out the "use it and love it" rule to my books (aka keep only what you use and love and get rid of the rest). I finally decided to keep the ones that make me feel good - either from the memories of enjoying reading them or the anticipation of the joys of reading them - and get rid of the rest. So the ones I've tried to get into but never could, the ones that are from times in my life that I'd rather forget, those types of books are all gone.


Thanks Pageta

Dennis gave me to key to getting rid of unread books, and I think yours is the key to getting rid of many of the ones that I have read.

This is great!

Dave

[ProfDD]

Dennis
I felt something seismic inside when I read that post. Thanks – you may have rescued my spare room from total immersion in unread books.

Thanks Pageta

Dennis gave me to key to getting rid of unread books, and I think yours is the key to getting rid of many of the ones that I have read.

This is great!

DaveI am so happy that my words could have a good impact ! I still haven't had the courage to SELL/GIVE AWAY/DUMP the books that I have.

[Gameboy70]

I've recently noticed that many skills I want to learn don't require a book's worth of information, at least initially. I've been using the Scrapbook extension in Firefox to store a library of online tutorials for various applications like Photoshop, AutoCAD, Python programming, etc. This saves me the burden of carrying full books in addition to my laptop. Obviously, some of these topics, like AutoCAD, ultimately require more rigor than an online tutorial, but as icebreakers these tutorials (e.g. "Introduction to AutoCAD 2002") are worth the weight they spare me from carrying.

[Scott_L_Lewis]

Has anyone incorporated Photoreading into this or other "speed reading" type techniques?

I use PhotoReading on an occasional basis. In my opinion, it is strongly reminiscent of the Evelyn Wood "multiple read and recall" technique. This is where you read the material in a very rapid manner called structuring, and then perform a recall. Then you skim it and do additional recall. Then you read line by line and do additional recall. Finally, you do a quick once-over of the material stopping to read and recall any sections that are still not clear. PhotoReading replaces the structuring step with the technique of going into "PhotoFocus," which is a special way to focus your eyes on the page - actually through the page - to do a very high-speed initial read of the material. (This is done after some initial structuring steps on the material.)

The book claims that some people can have some useful recall of the material even after only doing the PhotoReading step. This is called "spontaneous activation." I can't say that I have experienced this, at least in the ways it is described in the book, but by the same token, I may just not do it often enough to get to that point.

Some people regard PhotoReading as a gimmick, and claim that the PhotoFocus-PhotoReading step doesn't do anything at all. However, I can say that after doing the PhotoReading step, I do seem to recall more in the subsequent reading steps. Therefore, I think something is going on there.

The way PhotoReading and/or Evelyn Wood can save you time is that you can read something several times at varying but high rates of speed and still take less time overall than slow, once-through reading - and usually with equal or better comprehension. However, getting to that point and staying there takes regular practice.

In addition to that, many books aren't worth reading at any depth. It is better to find that out by doing an initial structuring plus one or more high-speed reads than by slogging through it line by line.

Finally, some books have good parts and bad parts. It is a better use of time to locate the good parts as quickly as possible and focus only on them rather than slogging through the whole book at the same speed.

At first blush, you might think these techniques are only useful for non-fiction, but they can help you read fiction more quickly as well. First, with practice, your line-by-line reading rate will improve. Second, you can accelerate to higher rates to skim through particularly tedious passages, and then slow down again when you want to. Finally, when you leave a book for an extended period of time. You can do one or more high-speed reads up to where you left off in order to get back into the story.

Hope this helps.

[Busydave]

I still haven't had the courage to SELL/GIVE AWAY/DUMP the books that I have.

Yes, "courage" - another bull’s-eye point Dennis. Why is it that we need courage to get rid of books? What is it we are afraid of losing ... especially with virtually everything available on Amazon nowadays? Maybe it's the instant availability?

Dave

[ActionGirl]

Getting rid of books definitely feels different than decluttering other items.

To me, it's at least partly about identity. The few times I've gotten rid of a significant number of books, it was once I'd moved on from a certain major interest/phase/identity and recognized and embraced the fact that I've moved on.

[pageta]

Getting rid of books definitely feels different than decluttering other items.

To me, it's at least partly about identity. The few times I've gotten rid of a significant number of books, it was once I'd moved on from a certain major interest/phase/identity and recognized and embraced the fact that I've moved on.

I totally agree!